


The Longest Road

by Bookshido



Series: The Stories of Miranda Adams, Sole Survivor and General of the Minutemen [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3, Fallout 4
Genre: End Game Spoilers: Fallout 3, End Game Spoilers: Fallout 4, Explicit Language, Game Spoilers, Gen, Minuteman Ending, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-03 06:01:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11526039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookshido/pseuds/Bookshido
Summary: After spending a year away from his son, running with the Gunners, being a companion to the Sole Survivor, and watching the destruction of the Institute, Robert Joseph MacCready decides it's time to head home.





	1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Miri, can we stop for a second?" Robert called from behind her as soon as the gunshots ceased. 

Miranda turned to face him, wiping at her brow as she slung her Gauss over her shoulder. They had only barely made it out of this fight with a small batch of raiders. Which was surprising for them. With everything they had been through, it would seem like a breeze to clean out a raider hideout. But now Dogmeat was limping back towards her and MacCready had a nervous look on his face. This couldn't be good.

"Yeah, what's up?" she asked, taking a seat on a boulder nearby.

"Look, I don't know how to say this," he began, trailing off then sighing. "I'll just spit it out. I want to go back to the Capital Wasteland."

Dogmeat limped over to Miranda and laid down heavily, panting hard.

"Okay," she replied, pulling her rifle around and working on reloading it.

"You mean, you're not mad?" he asked, confused. 

"Why would I be?" she asked in reply, frowning at him as she dug into her bag. "Should I be mad?"

"No, no, not at all," he said, laughing a little, then coughing. "I just didn't know how you'd take it."

"I've been waiting for you to ask me," Miranda admitted, pulling out a stimpack and gently injecting Dogmeat with it. "I saw you a couple nights ago looking at your wallet pictures. The last time that happened, we went looking for your son's cure."

She chucked the empty stimpack over her shoulder and began stroking the German Shepherd soothingly. 

"He's the reason I want to go back," Robert said, taking a seat next to her with a sigh. "It's been almost a year."

"You told me," she said, looking at the ground. "What are you going to do once you get back?"

"I don't know," he admitted, leaning forward. "I'll see when I get there. I grew up in the Capital, but the Commonwealth... it's like a new home to me. And who knows what the Capital Wasteland is like now..."

"Hey, you don't have to make up your mind now," she teased, gently shoving him. "It's a long walk to the Capital, or so I'm told."

"Whoa, wait a minute," he protested, rising. "You ain't comin' with me."

"Why not?" Miranda pouted, looking confused. "Why can't I come with you?"

"Because..." he said, fumbling for a reason. "Because you're the Sole Survivor, that's why."

"So?" she said with a shrug. 

"So, you're a hero," he insisted, starting to pace. "Taking you with me is like signing our death warrants and put the Commonwealth in danger."

"The Commonwealth was doing just fine before I got here," she replied, rolling her eyes. “And now that the Minutemen are at full power, it’ll be safe even if I leave. I trust Preston and the others to keep the peace.”

“Yeah, but-” he protested, pausing and glaring at her. 

“Do you just not want me to come with you?” she asked, starting to frown now. “I thought we were travelling companions, which meant that we travelled together and watch each other’s backs.”

“I mean, I want you to,” he admitted, crossing his arms. “But I… Dammit, Miri. You don’t know who’s there, do you?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, brow wrinkling in confusion.

“You think the Super Mutant problem is bad here,” he asked, staring her down. “Even with the Brotherhood of Steel trying to control the Downtown D.C. Ruins, they keep coming. When you shoot one, three more show up to fill their place. Not to mention the raiders, nut jobs, and assholes who are just plain old humans but would put a bullet in your skull if you have something they want.”

“Doesn’t sound like something we couldn’t handle,” she commented, but gestured for him to keep going. 

“Not to mention the mercs who like to put the good guys in the ground,” Robert continued. “And the fact that any good supply sources have been picked over long ago.”

“I’m still not seeing why I shouldn’t go with you,” Miri laughed. 

“I just…” he sighed, looking up angrily, then glaring at her. “You’re the final hope of the Commonwealth. Without you there to make sure everything goes smoothly, it’ll come crumbling down.”

“MacCready, all people die someday,” she replied, exasperated. “One day, I will too. And then what? You think the Commonwealth and everything we worked for is just going to be lost? Do you really have that little faith in our friends?”

“I…” he said, sighing again. “No, I don’t.”

“Then I don’t see why the world would fall apart if I went down,” she said, starting to laugh.

He didn’t reply, just stared her down. 

“Is it a matter of pride?” she asked hesitantly, not wanting to push him too far. “Because if it is-”

“No, it’s not…” he said, trailing off with a sigh. “You aren’t going to take no for an answer, are you?” 

“Not unless you give me an actual reason to stay behind,” she stated, starting to grin. 

“Look, my thing is that you always seem to find yourself in the worst kind of situations,” he explained. “And we always have been close to somewhere we know is safe and can take care of any injuries. The overland routes to the Capital are barren, with very few people between here and there. If we go, it will be with barely anything to our name.”

“Not like we haven’t done that before,” she said with a shrug. “Would we be travelling alone or with a caravan?”

“You know how I don’t play nice with others,” he joked, smirking. “It would be you, me, and Dogmeat; if you want him to come with us.”

“So you’re going to let us come with you?” she asked excitedly.

“Only if we make a stop at Goodneighbor and check in with your daily dick,” he shot back. 

“Hey! He’s my morning, noon, and night dick,” she snapped back. “And you know we’re more than that.”

“I know, I know,” he chuckled. “But I wouldn’t want to go pulling you away from him without him knowing.”

“Alright, so, what I’m hearing is that if we tell Hancock where we’re going, stock up on ammo and supplies, and set out A.S.A.P, then I can go?” Miri asked excitedly. 

“Yeah, alright,” he relented, rolling his eyes and chuckling as she tackled him in a hug. “Hey, hey, cool it, Miri. You know I don’t do hugs.”

“Oh, oops, sorry,” she apologized, releasing him with an awkward smile. “So, want to get over to Goodneighbor? Get this crazy train on the road?

“Sounds good to me,” Robert said with a small laugh. “Man, what am I gonna tell the guys back home? I leave for a year, come back with a smokin’ babe… they’re gonna think I’m a synth!”

“As if anyone could replace you,” Miri laughed, shoving him playfully. “Besides, you could never get me.”

“I bet I could,” he shot back. 

“Too late; already taken,” she replied, patting her leg to signal Dogmeat. “And speaking of the darling dick, let’s get movin’, alright?”

“Couldn’t agree more,” he said with a grin, turning towards the direction of Goodneighbor. 

They set off, sending each other jokes and teases even as they entered the mayor’s home a couple of hours later. 


	2. Chapter 2

“Miranda!” Mayor Hancock called, walking delicately down the staircase to greet them. “MacCready! You’re back.”

He looked like some kind of princess, descending to the ground where the rest of the peasants were waiting. As John walked, he kept casually adjusting his coat to keep it sitting correctly on his lanky frame. The grin on his face kept growing wider the closer he got, revealing his almost flawless teeth. Robert had only met Mayor McDonough once, but here, he could see the family resemblance. Guess politicians did run in the family.

“I’ve told you before that you can call me Robert,” MacCready said with an eyeroll as the Mayor reached the bottom and walked over to them. 

“Well, what’s the fun in that?” Hancock replied before turning his attention to Miri. 

She was looking him over with a raised eyebrow and a small smile. 

“What; no greeting for me?” he asked Miri, starting to smirk. 

“Oh, darling, who could ignore you,” she said before grabbing the front of his coat and pulling him into a kiss. 

Robert huffed and looked away for a moment. He quickly looked back over where the two of them were making out like teenagers who hadn’t seen each other in a week. He groaned, trying to get their attention. They didn’t stop, the noises they were making increasing in volume as the mayor rubbed his hands in her hair and she started to take off his hat. Robert tried a cough, which did nothing. 

“Hey, assholes!” he finally shouted, making them jump a little. “You’re not alone.”

Miranda and John pulled apart, backing up a little and brushing themselves down like nothing had just happened. Robert glared at them for a moment before sighing. 

“Jesus, if that’s how you two are gonna be, I’ll just go crash right now,” he muttered, starting towards the stairs. 

“Robert, come on,” Miri called, starting to follow him. “It wasn’t that bad…”

“Well…” Hancock wheedled, chuckling. “It probably looked pretty graphic.”

“Babe, you’re not helping,” she said, turning her attention back to Robert. “C’mon, just have some drinks with us.”

“Fine,” Robert caved, starting to laugh. “Can’t pass that up. The good stuff, right?”

“Of course,” Hancock promised. “Nothing else.”

* * *

They ended up in Hancock’s quarters, reclining on the twin couches. As expected, Robert was seated across from John and Miranda, who were cuddling together. All three were fairly tipsy, laughing as they tried to keep their wine glasses stable. The night had started out with the hard stuff: vodka and whiskey. Once it was clear that they were all getting quite inebriated, they’d moved on to the wine. Miranda had declared it a ‘port,’ but to MacCready, it was just red wine. Now, Miri wouldn’t stop giving MacCready sharp looks, trying to let him know that they needed to start asking Hancock about the trip. Unfortunately, the mayor was picking up on it, and not in the way they wanted.

“Hey, Miri,” John asked, getting her attention. “Something goin’ on with you and MacCready that I should know about?”

“Wha-Oh,” she said, setting her glass down. “No, nothing.”

“Because you’ve been giving him some looks I thought I only got,” he explained, starting to frown.

“Babe, we just have to ask you something,” Miri said, shifting to face him. 

“If this is about a three-way thing-” the mayor began, but was cut off when she put a single finger on his lips.

“Shush,” she ordered, leaning back. “This is important.”

He stayed silent, so Robert decided to jump in.

“Ya know how I’m not from around here?” he began, earning a nod. “I’m going back home.”

“Wow, that’s insane, MacCready,” John remarked, leaning back and putting his arm around Miranda. “When ya leavin’?”

“Hopefully in the next week,” he said, sharing a look with Miranda. 

This did not go unnoticed and the ghoul’s eyes narrowed. 

“There’s that look again,” he said, chuckling. “I get the feeling I’m not gonna like what you’re gonna say next.”

“You know how Robert is one of my bestest friends?” Miranda said, inching closer. 

“Yeah.”

“Well, travelling that far alone isn’t exactly safe, so I’m going with him,” she said, not even making it a question.

Robert held his breath as the mayor’s head snapped around to stare at her. For that split second, he thought that there was about to be a fight, but then, the mayor grinned. 

“Of course,” he agreed, starting to smile.

She stared at him in surprise. “You mean, you’re not mad?”

“No, I get it,” he reassured her. “Hell, I ditched an entire city to go runnin’ off with you. I’m not exactly someone to judge.”

“You mean it, you’re not mad?” she asked, starting to smile again. 

“No, I’m not, Miri,” he said, caressing her cheek. 

“I’ll be right back, babe,” Miranda said, quickly kissing Hancock on the cheek and rising. “You’re the best!”

Albiet, Miri was a little unsteady, but quickly regained her balance. As she stepped away, he gave her a playful tap on the ass, making her giggle and walk a little faster. MacCready watched with a look that was a mixture of both disgust and wistfulness. Once her footsteps faded away, Hancock set down his glass with more precision than MacCready thought he would and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs.  

“Alright, MacCready, listen up cause I’m only gonna say this once,” the mayor informed him, speaking quickly. “You’re a damn good gun, who’s done a lot of good for the Commonwealth, Miranda, and Goodneighbor.”

“You were never drunk, were you?” MacCready slurred, giving him a small glare. 

“Besides the point,” John said with a dismissive wave. “Now, I ain’t gonna lie; I’m not exactly thrilled with the thought of Miri leaving the Commonwealth without me. But you know as well as I do that if she gets a thought in her head, no one can stop her. So I’m not gonna stand in her way.”

Robert waited for him to go on. 

“But,” he said, pausing for a moment. “If I hear even a rumor that she’s been hurt or that you’ve laid a hand on her, you can bet that I will hunt you down and gut you myself.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less,” MacCready laughed, the laugh dying when he saw the expression Hancock was giving. “Jesus, you’re really serious, aren’t you?”

“I love Miranda,” the mayor stated. “I haven’t felt this way about anyone before and I never thought I would. So you can bet that I don’t ever want to face a day without her in it. And I make it my personal business to prevent that at every turn.”

He huffed and went on. 

“I’m not deaf, ya know,” he grumbled. “I hear the shit they say about the Capital Wasteland. The stories. About the D.C. ruins and how every super mutant you kill spawns four more. About the slave trade there. About how you can’t even trust the burnt out cars to be safe. Not to mention the stories I hear about the road to even get there. I can’t do anything to protect her when I’m stuck here. I can’t call in favors. So it’s on you to keep her safe.”

“John, you’ve got nothing to worry about,’” Robert said, barely giggling and pretending to hiccup. 

The mayor eyed him and shrugged, picking up his glass and sipping it slowly. Robert also adjusted his grip on the glass and down the remainder of it with a satisfying sigh. At that moment, she returned, jogging over and flopping onto the couch. Hancock flipped gears immediately, starting to smile again. 

“What’re my boys talkin’ about,” she asked, looking blearily between the two of them. 

“Nothing, sweetheart,” Hancock speedily replied before MacCready could even think of a response. “What do you say we all head to bed? I’m pretty damn tired.”

“Oh, really,” she said, raising an eyebrow and sitting up. “Even… now..?”

Miranda bit her lip as she started to work on the top buttons of her shirt. Hancock swallowed, smirking, as she kept revealing more and more skin. She finally stopped when the top of her bra was only barely visible. 

“Well, I can always make a few exceptions,” Hancock chuckled, turning back to Robert. “Night, man.”

“Night,” Robert replied with a huge yawn, laying down fully on his couch. 

The pair rose and headed for the stairs, Miranda leading Hancock by his ruffled shirt. The two of them were speaking quietly as they went up to John’s room. Luckily, as Robert drifted off, he didn’t hear any of the usual loud, explicit noises that kept him awake for hours. Tonight was peaceful.


	3. Chapter 3

“Alright, got all you need, love?” Hancock asked, helping Miranda put her backpack on. 

“John, sweetheart, for the eighth time: I’m all ready to go,” she assured him with an eyeroll as she fiddled with the straps. 

While they chatted, Robert was busy struggling to put his fully loaded backpack on. Once it was finally seated nicely, he straightened back up and raised his hand to block out the piercing early morning sun. It was quite early and he’d been awakened just before the sun rose to start getting their shit together. Hancock had let them into his warehouse to collect supplies and now that they were finally ready for the trip, all that was left was to say their goodbyes.

“Remember what I said,” he hissed, patting MacCready on the back and pulling back. “Stay safe out there.”

“Promise,” Robert said, grinning at him reassuringly. 

“Alright, you’d better get the hell out here,” John ordered more loudly, still grinning. “The walk is pretty damn long, and I want to see you two soon.”

Miri nodded and pulled him in for another hug. This one lasted only moments before she released him and turned to Robert. 

“Let’s go,” she said, snapping her fingers and calling Dogmeat over. 

The two set off as the German Shepherd ran off ahead, tail wagging. He gave an exuberant yip, glad to be back on the road. And as Goodneighbor faded into the background, Robert breathed a sigh of relief. He was going home.

* * *

 

It was two hours before Miri decided to broach a topic Robert had brought up during their first conversations about the Capitol Wasteland. 

“So, tell me about this Lone Wanderer,” Miranda asked, barely jumping over a crack in the asphalt. 

“Well, everyone tells the story of the Lone Wanderer differently,” he admitted. “So what I tell you probably isn’t going to be the same for everyone.”

“Alright, so tell me your version,” she said with a laugh. 

“Well, first thing everyone will tell you is that they’ve met the Lone Wanderer,” he said, shifting into a storytelling tone. “But I actually have.”

“Okay,” Miri said, stifling a laugh. 

“Yep, I was twelve years old,” Robert went on. “Remember how I told you I grew up in Little Lamplight?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, when I was mayor, she came by. She wanted passage through Little Lamplight to Vault 87.”

“Did you let her through?”

“Not until she did something for me.”

“Of course.”

“Hey, I had people to defend. Look, it was a tough time; three of my citizens were kidnapped by slavers and taken to Paradise Falls.”

“What’s Paradise Falls?”

“It’s a slave camp. The slavers there when I was a kid were well-armed, organized and flourishing. Last I heard, they were wiped out pretty soon after she helped us out. Rumor was that the Lone Wanderer did it. If she did, it was damn good work because no one survived.”

They walked on in silence for a few more moments

“So what did she do?” Miranda asked.

“Whatdaya mean?”

“I mean, did she get your citizens back?”

“Well, she left and then a couple a’ days later, in came running the missing citizens. They said a woman in a Vault 101 jumpsuit with an assault rifle came in and broke them out. Got them computer parts and managed to break out one of their friends too. She came rolling in the next day, looking like she hadn’t slept in a week,” MacCready finished, chuckling to himself. “Sort of like you, actually. But there was something darker lurking. I don’t know why she didn’t just end the damn slavers when she went to break my friends out, but when I asked, she dodged the question.”

“What’s her name?”

“Well, no one knows for sure,” he went on, shrugging. “I’ve heard all kinds of bullshit. And I know she never told me or the other Little Lamplighters.”

“So which one is your favorite?” 

“I’ve always liked ‘Kitty Sweetlips,’” he laughed, making Miranda snort as well. “People get pretty damn creative with their heroes.”

“So what makes her a hero?”

“I mean, what hasn’t she done? Saved kids from slavers, taken down tyrants, turned on a purifier that literally started making the Potamac drinkable again by getting rid of the rads? That chick has done nothing but make people’s lives better,” he said, not feeling Miranda’s careful gaze. “I’m trying to think of more… Oh, she saved a whole squad of rangers and got them to safety after they got stranded. She’s taken down all kinds of raider gangs and made sure they didn’t come back. This chick also managed to keep the Brotherhood on her side, which you know is no easy feat.”

“Of course.”

“It’s been like ten years since she did the thing she’s mostly named for,” Robert explained. “She’s mostly just been doing house-keeping jobs mostly since then. Driving out raiders, finding lost kids, you know. The basics.”

“Oh yeah, because anyone would do that,” Miranda said with an eyeroll before taking a quick sip from her thermos. 

“Well, that’s what she does,” he shot back, frowning and stopping. “You don’t believe me, do you.”

“Bob,” she said, stopping and glancing back at him as he cringed. “Of course I don’t. I mean, you knowing two heroes. That’s the unlikely part for me.”

“Believe me or not, that’s the case,” he replied, crossing his arms. “And I’m telling you all this because you need to know about it before you go in and try to do things your way. We have our ways in the Capitol, and that’s different from the Commonwealth.”

“As long as I can go visit the Lincoln Monument, I don’t think it’s that different,” Miri said with another eyeroll. “What are ya’ gonna say next? That a colony of ghouls lives in the Smithsonian museums?”

She laughed to herself and started walking again. He didn’t follow her, pursing his lips as she kept going. Finally, she noticed he wasn’t behind her and walked back over. 

“You’re giving me the look you do when I say something that’s right but is gonna seem absurd to me,” she said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. 

“There’s this place called the Underworld,” he began to explain, and Miranda snorted. “And it’s an all ghoul colony that lives in the history museum. It used to be an exhibit about some guy named Dante and his story about the afterlife.”

“Okay, now I know you’re making this shit up,” she grumbled. 

“When we get to the Downtown DC ruins, I’ll prove it to you,” he promised, starting to walk with her again. 

“If there really is a colony of ghouls, I will personally try to ride a mirelurk,” she said, returning her thermos to her bag. “And I’m very confident that I’m going to win this.”

“I’d get your riding boots ready,” he chuckled, giving a careful look behind and pausing again.

They were definitely starting to leave the Commonwealth behind now, and he could barely see the skyline of the Boston ruins now. To the west, the swirling winds of the Glowing Sea roared and he was glad that this trail had been formed far away from that radioactive cesspit. He’d always hated dealing with power armor, and the idea of having to hike through there to get home was a new kind of hell. He glanced back at the skyline. From here, the ruins that had towered over him for years look tiny, like he could pick them up and put them in his pocket. It really put things in perspective; the last time he’d seen the city this way, he was approaching it from the south, hoping to make his fortune and find a cure for Duncan. Here he was, leaving a home for what was probably good. He stared a moment longer, trying to memorize every detail of the minute figures. 

“MacCready, you comin’?” Miranda called.

“Yeah, just lookin’,” he replied, shaking his head and turning back in line with the trail.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oops.

“Hey, can we stop?” MacCready called, stopping where he was. “I think I’ve got a rock in my shoe.”

“Alright,” Miranda agreed before whistling for Dogmeat. 

The pup came trotting back up, dopily smiling as he stopped at Miranda’s side. MacCready kneeled down and began to work on his boot’s laces. They were maybe six hours out at this point and the landscape was looking a lot less war-torn and was mostly just light forest. They’d been following a paved road that was pretty cracked, but not tilted at odd angles like roads going into Boston were like. Miri had said they were in Connecticut now, whatever the hell a Connecticut was. 

“I’m a little surprised we haven’t run into any raiders,” she commented, watching him work. “This area would be great for an ambush.”

“And there goes my anxiety,” Robert muttered, his hand slipping on the knot. “Dammit.”

“Hey, you’ve gotta watch your mouth,” Miranda scolded him. “You’ve gotta get in the habit of being around kids again. At least, kids who aren’t willing to mouth off with phrases you wouldn’t even dream up.”

“Fuck, you’re right,” he replied, standing up with a small huff. “Dammit. Shit-”

“Relax, Bob,” Mirri laughed, making him scowl. “You’ve still got a while until it really matters.”

“If you’re going to keep calling me Bob, you can turn around and head on home,” he told her, pointing back the way they came. “And take your mutt too.”

Dogmeat whined sadly and MacCready sighed. 

“Alright, fine; you can stay,” he told the pooch, who barked approvingly. “But your mom has to go.”

“Hey!” Miri exclaimed, scowling. “You can’t keep him with you and not me!”

“My personal quest, my rules,” he shot back, sniggering.

“But he’s my dog,” she argued back. 

“And if I dangle a bit of mole rat jerky, he’ll stay with me,” Robert stated. “He works for the highest bidder and I happen to like keeping meat around.”

“Just because I don’t keep preserved meat on my person doesn’t mean that he’d abandon me for you,” she reasoned with him, crossing her arms. 

“Oh yeah,” MacCready replied, pointing at the dog. “Look right now.”

Dogmeat was at that very moment sniffing around the base of MacCready’s backpack, where he kept his food supplies. Right now, it was nothing but various types of jerky and water; the basics. If they were stranded, this stuff would last long enough for them to figure a way out of the mess they’d gotten themselves into. Not to mention the two leather belts he had as a final resort. Leather wasn’t all that bad of a substitute for jerky. Once, he’d been locked in a shootout with another sniper and couldn’t even get up to get to the food in his bag. He’d pulled his belt off and started to cut bits of it off to chew on while waiting. Robert had scored the winning shot when the other guy stupidly got up to go for his own pack. 

When Miranda glared at her dog, Dogmeat gave her a guilty look and slunk back over to her, tail between his legs in shame. 

“Told you,” Robert sassed, chuckling. “He can’t resist me.”

“So what,” Miri scoffed, ignoring Dogmeat as he started to growl lowly. “Dogs like food; what else is new?”

“That we have you surrounded,” a gruff male voice called, making both Robert and Miri spin around. 

Dogmeat’s hackles were up and Robert scanned the sight around them. Six men, who either could have been raiders or mercs, had them surrounded from each angle. All were packing rifles, most of which looked like salvaged hunting rifles. The guy who addressed them seemed to be the leader because he was carrying an energy weapon and was dressed better. 

“Hands where I can see ‘em,” the man ordered, aiming at them. “Or I vaporize now instead of later.”

Miri shared a look with Robert and slowly raised her hands up in surrender. MacCready followed suit, clearing his throat. Perfect place for an ambush. Miri certainly had a sixth sense when it came to these things. 

“Call off your mutt,” the man ordered next as Dogmeat started to take a few steps forward. 

“Dogmeat, calm,” Miri ordered, keeping her voice low enough that the man couldn’t hear. 

The pup gave her a confused look, but took a seat, ears back as he kept his eye on her. 

“Good, listening to orders is gonna do you good,” the leader stated, lowering his weapon. “Congratulations; you’re now property of the Iron Circle Slaving Company.”

“Fuck,” Miranda muttered under her breath. 

* * *

Robert was surprised that the slavers hadn’t put them in some kind of explosive collar yet, but the leader had put them in handcuffs and was marching them along with weapons drawn, so they didn’t really need them. Luckily, they were still heading in the direction Miri and Robert had already been going, so that when they escaped, they’d have made progress and not backtracked. 

Dogmeat had also been brought along. The leader had him on a makeshift chain leash and had declared that he’d ‘fetch a good price’ back at their camp. The slavers had confiscated their weapons and left their packs on them so that they could carry them and not weigh down one of the slavers. They’d been marching for about an hour before two of the slavers started talking. 

“I’ve got half a mind to buy this bitch for myself,” he stated, voice just loud enough for Miri to hear. “A little old for my taste, but nice tits and ass still-”

“You fucker-” Miri snapped, lunging towards him. 

“Hey!” The leader shouted, pulling her chain back so that she stopped short. “Knock that off! What the hell did you say, Abrams?”

“Just said that I might want her for myself,” Abrams replied with a sneer. “And that she’s a nice piece of merchandise.”

“Knock that shit off,” the leader growled, letting Miri’s chain have some slack. “You know better than to provoke the new merchandise.”

“Yeah, Desmund,” Abrams replied, scowling at Miranda. “It’s damn true though.”

Miri took the chance the slack gave her and managed to almost get her cuffed hands over his head before Desmund pulled her back sharply and she went crashing to the ground with a grunt. Desmund sighed angrily and marched forward. He actually helped Miranda to her feet, handed the chain off to one of the other lackeys and then got up in Abrams’ face. 

“You need to watch your mouth,” he hissed, loud enough for the others to hear. “We may be slavers, but show the property some goddamn respect. They’re gonna have to do work that you wouldn’t want to do in your worst nightmares.”

“Just because you have a conscience when it comes to them doesn’t mean that we have to,” Abrams shot back, just as much fire in his voice. “Giselle doesn’t make us follow these rules.”

“And who’s running this mission,” Desmund stated. “I am. Just because Giselle let you get away with this shit on her missions doesn’t mean that I will.”

“She’s still your boss,” one of the others piped up. 

“Stay out of this, Orman,” both Abrams and Desmund snapped before turning back to each other. 

“What he said,” Abrams said, crossing his arms and leaning back slightly. “Giselle’s rule trumps yours. What are you doing; going soft for them or something?”

“No, I just happen to be in this business for the money, not because I’m a sadistic fuck,” Desmund said, finally losing his cool. “Like you, or your crazy bitch Jasmine.”

“Don’t bring her into this,” Abrams snarled, poking Desmund in the chest. “I’m gonna make sure the next neck to have a collar on it is yours.”

“Good luck with that,” Desmund laughed. “Giselle knows I’m the best fucking acquisitions officer she’s got. She couldn’t replace me if she wanted to.”

“Wait til I tell her about that one you let get away,” Abrams threatened, stepping back. “We’ll see who’s laughing then.”

As the arguing continued, Robert gave Miri a sideways glance. She was keeping her head down and her hands were ever so slightly moving and had wrapped around themselves awkwardly. He squinted a little to see what she was doing, but when he saw the pin in her hands, he turned his gaze back to the two arguing men. Looking at her would only garner her attention and if she succeeded in picking her cuffs, they’d need to attract as little attention as possible. 

Dammit, he hoped this would work. 

“And if you tell her about that incident, I’ll tell her about you stealing Hydra from the stockpile for weekend benders,” Desmund threatened back. “You know how attached Giselle is to her Hydra.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Abrams hissed.

“Then it would appear that we’re at a stalemate,” Desmund stated, backing off. “Keep your mouth shut and listen up and I won’t be afraid to break my end of it.”

Robert turned back into the line keeping his head down. The others moved back to their places.

“Now, if anyone else wants to make any shitty comments that we need to waste more daylight on, we’d better get moving,” the boss growled. “Move it!”

The gang started moving and Robert kept his head down, eyes fixated on Miranda’s hands which were frantically moving. Over the footsteps, he could hear mild clicking noises exuding from the lock and he hoped that none of the others could hear. Her hands tensed up and started to push the pin further into the lock. As her hand hit a solid spot, Robert glanced around with only his eyes and started coughing. It was a thick hack that successfully covered up the loud pop that came when the pin finally gave out and the chains almost fell off her hands. She managed to grab the cuffs and keep them on her wrists before they fell off.

“Oi, you alright there?” Desmund asked gruffly, tapping MacCready on the shoulder. 

“Yeah, just some dust in my throat,” he explained away, shrugging as he turned his attention back up to the road ahead. 

* * *

They kept walking in silence for another two hours before they were forced off the main road and to follow a small, dirt path south through the rapidly thickening woods. The slavers were getting excited; quiet conversation had escalated in volume and rapidity and the pace had also sped up. Miri’s grip on the cuffs had tightened as it became harder to hold onto the metal with the increased movement.

The trees started to thin out as they approached what MacCready assumed was a camp of some sort. There was a fire up ahead and what looked like some tents. Beyond the tents, there were what looked like some pens. The closer they got, the more pens he could see and he was shocked at the size of this operation. He’d seen very few slaving operations operating on a level like this. There had to be a shit ton of mercs helping keep this place under wraps and helping with transport. 

There were rows and rows of tents, most of which were disguised to look like their surroundings and hide the true numbers. There were about five tents to a row and two rows of five per segment. Judging by the people gathered near each segment, Robert guessed that each one was an acquisition team. On the end corner, there was a slightly larger tent, which was probably for the team leader. Damn, this was well-organized.

Footpaths led throughout the camp and as they entered the clearing, they were led down a slightly winding path to a sub-clearing off the main clearing that held the biggest tent of them all. Robert was willing to bet that that was where this Giselle lived. She had to be the leader for her to be used as a threat against her employees. Outside the large tent was a stage that had been erected with small platforms on there with various items scattered about. Mostly weights. The path led both to the stairs on the edge of the stage and to the tent. Smoke was coming out of the top of the tent and the wind carried a smell of freshly cooking meat. If he had to guess, Robert would guess that it was mirelurk. 

Desmund called for the group to halt and marched forward, going into the large tent. The mercs remained quiet and Robert could see Miranda tightening up as she seemingly braced for Abrams to be a dick again. However, when Desmund emerged, Abrams had held his tongue and a woman with long, blonde, braided hair had come with him. She was dressed like a merc, but had a more shrewd look. 

“Here they are,” Desmund stated, gesturing at the pair. “Caught them arguing on the main road.”

Giselle stared them down and Robert made brief eye contact with her. Her eyes were brown, but lacked the warmth he’d come to expect from other people’s brown eyes. She approached Miri first.

“The woman seems a little too old for the standard age of production,” Giselle stated, looking Miranda up and down. “Otherwise seems to be in good health. I’d be interested in testing her to see how much she can carry.”

Her attention turned to Robert now and he stared her down, trying to force as much anger and rebellion into his gaze as possible. 

“Looks like he’s still within range and seems to be in excellent health,” she mused, pursing her lips. “But I can tell he’s going to be one hell of a runner if he gets the chance. We might need to work on him before sale.”

Desmund made a grunt of agreement. 

“About the same price for both,” Giselle decided, nodding to herself. “Put them in Pen B and the dog with the others. Desmund, you know what to do with the ledger. Abrams, you’re on food duty-”

“Giselle,” Desmund suddenly cut in. 

“What?” she asked, turning to him and glaring slightly. 

“Abrams should not be put on food duty for these two,” he stated, pointing at them. “He made lascivious comments towards the female and was poorly treating the male.”

“Is this true?” she asked, turning on Abrams now, fully scowling.

“Yes, but,” he began protesting, but Giselle cut him off with a gesture. 

“Shut it,” she ordered, her voice full of venom. “When you signed on, I told you that you were to treat the merchandise with dignity. We aren’t barbarians, even if we are slavers. You can pack your stuff up and get out of here; I won’t have disobedient dogs handling my livelihood.”

Abrams looked ready to respond, but when Desmund aimed his gun at his head, the merc backed down and headed back towards the main camp area.

“Now that that’s settled,” she said with a sigh, brushing off her shirt and looking back at Miri and Robert. “Introductions seem to be in order. Hello, I’m Giselle; I run this operation and now you’re the property of the Iron Circle Slaving Company. We’ll treat you fair as long as you don’t do anything to disrupt what we have goin’ on here. I don’t like to punish people who’ve been through enough, but if you try to run or stir up rebellion, it won’t be pretty. I don’t put bomb collars on my slaves unless it’s necessary, so don’t give me a reason to collar you. I run a tight ship. Until you’re bought, you will do work here for me, my men, and the other slaves. There’s a reason we have one of the biggest operations south of the Commonwealth and it’s because everyone works. You can earn money if you do a good enough job each week or if someone decides to tip you. Who knows. You might impress a buyer and be out of here pretty quickly. Desmund will take it from here.”

She gave him a nod and stalked back to her tent, ducking inside. 

“Alright, men, I’ve got it from here,” he ordered, waving at the other mercs. “Go ahead and take your loads off. I’ll come to your tents tonight with your salary after I’ve dropped these guys off.”

The mercs broke off quickly and the one who had been holding the chains passed them off to Desmund. He just stared at them, then sighed. 

“Alright, now that she’s given you the what-for, let’s get to what life is actually like here,” he said with a small chuckle. “I’m Desmund, Acquisitions Team Quarry leader. Actually started off where you guys are now; managed to impress Giselle’s father so he set me up with an apprenticeship.”

“This really is a big operation,” Robert muttered. 

“Yeah, we are,” he agreed, nodding. “It’s not a bad life, if you can look past taking people’s freedom. There’s plenty of caps and supplies. Chems and booze too, if that’s what you like. I can go out as I please and Giselle listens to me like I’m her brother. Lots of opportunity.”

“Why are we still chained,” Miranda asked bluntly. 

“We’re not stupid,” Desmund snorted. “It’s been less than 24 hours. Of course you’d make a run for it. You’ll stay chained until after we fully measure your attributes.”

“Fair enough,” Robert said, giving Miri a sharp look. 

“So, uh, you two together,” Desmund asked, clearing his throat. “Like… romantically?”

“No,” they both said, giving each other mildly disgusted looks.

“Just friends,” Robert assured him. 

“I’ve got a guy back in the Commonwealth,” Miri explained. 

“Oh, sorry,” Desmund apologized. “Just wanted to make sure. Giselle likes to try and keep couples and families together when possible. It doesn’t always work out like that, but we try. Alright, let’s get a move on. You won’t be put to work today so you can settle in, but tomorrow you will, so we should get you to the pens so you can get to sleep early.”

He gestured for them to follow him and started walking back along the path they took to get to Giselle’s area. The camp seemed a little more crowded now and the hum was a little louder. Desmund led them through to an area that seemed to be a communal cooking area. Several tents were set up and people in much shabbier clothing than others were serving. Those had to be the other slaves. They didn’t look that bad off, but Robert knew from experience that this kind of set up could just be a big show. 

He stopped at one of the other tents and gestured for one of the guys to come over. He jogged over and gave Desmund a small head-nod. 

“Would you mind dropping him off with the others,” he asked, holding out Dogmeat’s chain. “I’ve got to put these two in the pens.”

“Yeah, no problem,” he said, giving him another nod and taking the leash. “Anything I need to know?”

“He seems pretty calm for such a big dog,” Desmund explained. “No worries for now. Giselle said that he should go with the others. You know the drill.”

The man nodded and gently tugged on Dogmeat’s lead. He whined a little, but when Miri gave him a small nod, the dog lowered his ears and followed the man, tail between his legs. The look on Miranda’s face was heartbreaking, but when she turned to Robert, her face was a mask of calm. 

“Alright, let’s get a move on,” Desmund said, gesturing for them to start walking.

They kept walking through camp, only stopping once to have two mercs pull their bags off them, which wasn’t easy because Robert had a backpack on. Shockingly, they didn’t rip the straps and all they did with Miri’s satchel was pull it over her head. They also handled their weapons pretty well for plain old mercs and their oohing over his rifle almost made him okay with them handling them. Desmund was quick to keep them moving though and he led them over to the pen arena.

Each pen was what Robert guessed to be about one hundred feet by a hundred. Attached to the back end were large sort of shacks with cots set up inside. People were in each and every one. Signs were set up on each of the corners showing the directions of each of the pens. Judging from the signs, there were pens lettered A-H. Pen A had a lot of teenagers and children. Pen B looked like more people their age and he could barely see Pen C, which looked like mostly people older than Miranda, but not as old as the people in Pen E. 

“Alright, Pen B,” Desmund narrated. “You’ll be staying here. When you are pulled for a shift, the guards will come in and get you. You can keep a couple personal effects once we get done going through your belongings. Like I said, we want to make this as painless as possible.”

He walked up and pulled a loop of keys from his pocket. After thumbing through the collection, he finally found one and unlocked a padlock. The gate swung open with a small creak and the bottom rungs caught on the ground slightly. None of the other slaves even came near the gate and kept going about their business, which seemed to be mostly talking and dealing with clothes. 

He gestured them inside. “There should be some free bunks in the bunkhouse. I’ll leave you two to get settled in.”

He gave them a small smile and shut the gate, relocking it and walking off. 

“Alright, we’ve got about five hours before we can work on breaking out of here,” Miranda said, turning to Robert with fire in her eyes. “And we need to get our stuff and my dog back too.”

* * *

It was pretty close to pitch black when he and Miranda stirred and started to get ready to go. They’d watched the movements of the guards, planned the escape down to the moment and even tried to figure out where the best path of escape would be. They couldn’t plan for everything, but they had damn well tried and now it was going to pay off. The biggest outlier was finding where the dog pen was and where their things had been taken. That was just assuming that the slavers hadn’t gone through their stuff and handed it out to the mercs. This operation was huge and organized, something he’d only seen with the slavers back in Paradise Falls. But those guys had fallen because they were leaps behind these guys. Robert only hoped that he and Miri were going to get extremely lucky. Their luck had already held up so far. 

“Coast is clear,” he told her, ducking back into the back half of the yard. 

Miranda nodded and stood, giving herself a good shake. The cuffs fell off and with speed he hadn’t expected, she caught the chains before they hit the ground and set them down, untangling herself as quietly as possible. After she rubbed at her wrists and ankles, she went to work on MacCready’s cuffs. She drew a fresh bobby pin from her pocket and gave him a reassuring smile as she knelt down. None of the other slaves stirred from their cots.  

“Hurry up,” he hissed, craning his neck to keep an eye on the patrols. “No one’s coming. Yet.”

“I’m working as fast as I can,” Miri replied, voice tight. “Locks are touchy and I’ve only got two pins left.”

Robert’s gaze kept darting everywhere and he couldn’t keep his breathing even as she kept working. The lock was making promising clicking noises and he did his best to hold still. With a pop, his hands were released and he pulled his hands around to the front, rubbing at the red indents. The release was stinging and he was glad to focus the anxious energy into an action while she continued to work on the leg hobbling chains. 

“Alright, let’s go,” she whispered, pulling off the ankle cuffs and setting them next to her’s. “We’ve got to find where they took our stuff.”

“There’s gotta be a processing area,” he muttered, inching over to the gate. 

Miri moved in again, going to work on the padlock. This one opened almost too easily and dropped into her hand’s silently. He slowly lifted the latch and, trying to minimize the creaking, he pulled the fence door inwards. The bottom corner scuffed against the dirt, but the noise was so muffled that Robert doubted that anyone had heard. Robert gave a cautious glance around. He thought he saw someone moving out of the corner of his eye, but he still waved Miranda out and worked on shutting the gate. They had just turned when a small gasp made the pair spin around, instinctively reaching for guns that they didn’t have.

Desmund was staring at them in shock, gun in hand, and all three were frozen like deer in the headlights. The only noise was Robert shutting the gate as he didn’t look away from the guard.

“Fuck,” Miri whispered.


	5. Chapter 5

Desmund broke the shock first, aiming his weapon at them and they put their hands up. He stalked over, looking around like he was expecting to be attacked next. 

“The fight, right?” he asked quietly. “Between the idiot and me? That’s when you undid the cuffs.”

Miri nodded and he sighed.

“I should have known,” he muttered, lowering his gun. “You can put your hands down; I’m not gonna shoot you.”

They relaxed and Robert cleared his throat. 

“So, if you’re not gonna shoot us,” he said, keeping his volume down. “Then what are you gonna do?”

“Average wasters wouldn’t have been able or wanted to break out,” Desmund said, looking them both up and down. “At least, so quickly. You two are on a mission of sorts, aren’t you?”

Miranda and Robert shared a look.

“That’s what I mean,” Desmund said, barely chuckling. “Just... follow me. Let’s get you back on the road.”

He beckoned them forward and started weaving through the rows of pens. Miranda felt very naked as they walked. Without a gun, without her dog, without an armed best friend, it felt pretty damn bleak and she felt pretty damn weak. Not to mention that this could all just be a trap and trick to recapture them. 

Robert seemed to be thinking the same way because he kept meeting her gaze and making vague gestures of disbelief the further they walked. She was finding it hard enough to believe herself, so she just gave him a shrug and kept walking. 

He led them through the camp slowly, but sped up whenever they got closer to other slavers.

“Quick, in here,” he ordered, holding the tent open. “There’s a guard coming, so stay quiet.”

Miri ducked inside first and then Mac did, followed closely by Desmund. He pulled the tent door shut and held a finger to his lips, barely able to be seen in the dim lamp-light. Robert held his breath and closed his eyes tight. 

Footsteps went right by the front door and only once Desmund tapped him on the shoulder did MacCready open his eyes and took a deep breath. Miri sighed as well, leaning on a crate. 

“We good?” she asked in a whisper. 

“Yep.”

He turned the lantern up brighter and walked further into the tent. In the brighter light, Robert could see that this tent actually had two chambers. This first section seemed to be a general supply area, but the second part had packs of all kinds and weapons strewn about. 

“There you are!” Miranda said excitedly, hurrying in and grabbing her Gauss rifle. “Oh, I missed you so much…”

Robert snorted and picked up his sniper rifle. It looked like nothing had happened to it, but when he checked the scope, he grumbled when it was out of place. A small twist put it right, but it still irked him that it hadn’t been the way he’d left it. Miranda seemed satisfied with her gun and slid it on her back before rummaging around and emerging triumphantly with her combat shotgun. 

“Aren’t these your packs?” Desmund asked, holding two bags up and wincing as he had to set them down again. “Are you guys carting rocks or something?”

“No, just lots of ammo and stims,” Miri said, grimacing as she picked up her pack. “We get into more scrapes than the average person and this bad boy runs on micro cells.”

She patted her gun and Desmund nodded. “Makes sense.”

“Can we get our shit together and move?” MacCready asked, scowling. “This is touching and all, but we’ve only got so much time before they notice we’re gone.”

“Yeah, no worries,” Miri said, grabbing her combat knife off the table and returning it to her boot. “You got everything?”

“Yep, you?” he shot back, adjusting the straps on his pack.

“Everything but Dogmeat,” she said, the smile in her voice. 

“Alright, I can get you over there, but it’s gonna be hard to sneak you back out,” Desmund warned. “Or I can go over there alone, get the dog and come back over there.”

Robert and Miri shared a look.

“We’ll come with you,” she decided. “Safety in numbers.”

He nodded and walked back over to the front room’s door. Desmund paused there and listened, before nodding and gesturing them forward. He held open the tent for them and they hurried out. 

The rest of camp was still quiet and he waved for them to follow him as he went towards the side of the camp that was closest to the trees. There were large pens stretching all the way over to the treeline and their size was getting smaller. There weren’t shelters like the ones for humans (these were simple three walled sort of shacks and more of the pens were empty over there. 

But Desmund paused in front of one of the ones with a small sea of dogs. They were of all sizes and breeds, some of which Miranda hadn’t seen since before the war. Sitting there, ears perky and tail thumping on the ground, was Dogmeat, who jumped to his feet as soon as he saw them. 

“Hey buddy,” Miranda cooed, crouching down and putting her hand through the fence. “We’ll have you out soon.”

He lightly boofed and Miranda stood back up. 

“Think you can pick the lock, MacCready?” she asked, stepping back.

“Or I could use a key,” Desmund suggested, pulling out a keyring.

“That works.”

He stepped up and unlocked the pen door. As soon as he did, there was a wave of activity as the other dogs started to wake up and stir. He opened the gate just far enough for Dogmeat to slip out and he ran over to Miranda immediately. She crouched down and stroked his head, pulling him into a hug and then standing up. The mutt took a seat at her side and panted audibly. The slaver went to shut the door, but MacCready stopped him.

“No, go ahead and let the rest of them out.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Desmund asked, about to put the lock back.

“We can use it as a distraction,” he explained. “Let the dogs loose into the camp and we can use the opportunity to slip away.”

“I like the way you think,” he said, pointing at Robert. “Have I told you that yet?”

With the flourish of a magician revealing his trick, Desmund threw open the gates and stepped out of the stampede’s way. A flood of dogs descended, scattering in every direction, with the majority of them running towards the middle of camp and the main campfires.

Not even moments after the release, there was loud yelling and even the sound of some gunshots as the dogs hit the other slavers.

“Time to go,” Desmund ordered, taking off at a jog.

* * *

 

They wove through the rest of the tents and cages. Other slavers passed them without a second glance as they headed towards the center of the commotion. They were nearly caught once, when one of the slavers paused and squinted, but his companions shuffled him on with them.

Almost painfully later, they arrived at the edge of camp. Desmund looked around carefully and breathed a sigh of relief.

“I think we’re clear,” he told them, keeping his voice low. “Now’s your chance.”

“I won’t forget this,” she promised, extending her hand to him. 

He paused, considering her gesture before gently taking her hand. As they shook, his grip was surprisingly gentle and he let go almost too soon.

“If you go through the trees and keep going west, you’ll find your way back to the road,” he instructed, gestung in their direction. “There are some ruins further south that you can take shelter in and easily get away from them once they send the search parties after you.”

“Thanks,” MacCready said.

He looked over at Miranda and their eyes met. He jerked his head in the direction of the trees and headed in. He started swearing as he pushed his way through the brush and tried to keep his gun up. She didn’t move, but looked back over at Desmund. He was looking away and further into the camp, but turned to watch before she started heading towards the border.

“Good luck out there,” he said, giving them a small wave.

Miranda was almost into the trees when she stopped.

“Miranda, come on!” 

“Come with us,” she offered, turning on her heel to face him. 

“What,” he said, eyes widening in surprise. “I-”

“If he wanted to leave, he would have a long time ago,” Robert stated, giving him an almost glare. “You heard him; he’s in it for the caps.”

“No, he’s a slave too,” Miri explained, turning to look at MacCready, then back to Desmund. “Come with us.”

“What do you mean ‘he’s a slave too?’” Robert asked, trying to get her attention again. 

“Didn’t you pick up on that?” Miri asked him, not looking over. “The way the mercs could talk down to him and the way he talked about slave life. Not to mention he said he’d been in our shoes and rose up.”

“Is that true?” he asked, turning on Desmund now.

“I was enslaved when I was eight years old,” Desmund confirmed, giving a cautious glance behind himself. “Look, if you want to get moving, you need to go before the next patrol comes through. They’ve probably already dealt with the dogs.”

“Come with us,” Miranda pleaded, gesturing at the woods. “Don’t you want to be free?”

“Yes, but-” he said, but Miri cut him off. 

“Then take this chance,” she said, adjusting her grip on her gun. “What do you have to lose?”

“A stable career, a roof over my head,” he listed. “What can you offer?”

“We’re headed south,” she stated, gesturing in that general direction. “I’m helping my friend here get home to his son, then I’m headed back to the Commonwealth. There’s power in numbers and who knows what we’ll find along the way. Not to mention that when we’re not being surprised, both of us are wizards with our guns. You’ll be safe and I swear we can outrun these guys. Are you really gonna throw away this chance to be free again?”

Desmund stared at her, gripping his gun tightly. MacCready could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he thought it over. He took a deep breath and bolted forward. Miri spun on her heel and started running through the trees after he passed her. Robert was sort of shocked, but turned and ran too. The shouting in the camp behind them began to fade into the background and she whistled for Dogmeat to keep pace.


End file.
